The Perfect Moment
by CastleQuill
Summary: When Blaine walks into the Lima Bean in the middle of Sam's shift, Sam immediately wants to ask him out. That feeling only grows stronger as the two become close friends, but between school drama and bad relationships, the timing never seems right. Sam's looking for the perfect moment, but he's not sure how much longer he can wait. For Blam Week.
1. Chapter 1

**For Blam Week Day 7: Coffee shop AU**

**This was originally supposed to be a oneshot, but it ended up being over 10k long, so I decided to split it into two parts. The second part is almost finished – I just need to write the last scene and make a few edits, so hopefully it will be up within the next week or so.**

**As always, I'd like to thank my beta, Tuuzmorado!**

* * *

The Lima Bean wasn't exactly the busiest place in town, especially in the afternoon. The morning shifts tended to get a little crazy, since pretty much every caffeine addict in Lima came there to grab a coffee before heading to work or school. They also sometimes got busy around three, when all of the high-school kids grabbed drinks before heading off to other places. But for the rest of the day, it was usually pretty empty. Which meant that working there got boring in a hurry.

Sam wasn't going to complain, though. It was the best job he could find, and his family really needed the money. Sure, it was minimum wage, but there were a few regular customers who tipped really well, so the job was pretty good overall. Still, Sam wished that there was a lot more to do.

Which was why Sam perked up when the bell over the door rang about five hours into Sam's Friday-night shift. In all the time he'd been there, he'd served maybe a dozen customers, and the girl who was supposed to be manning the front counter with him had long since disappeared into the back room to gossip with one of her friends (who didn't even work here, but that didn't seem to stop her from walking around the employees-only areas). By now, he was bored enough that any sign of activity made him pathetically excited.

The guy who walked in looked like he was about Sam's age, though Sam didn't think he went to McKinley. Then again, Sam had just started at McKinley a few weeks ago, so it wasn't like he knew what every single student looked like. Still, this looked like a guy who would stand out in a crowd, considering that his hair was pretty much plastered to his head. Sam was pretty sure that he hadn't seen anyone with that style walking around, and instantly started to wonder how he could wear it like that. Wasn't it kind of gross to have that much gunk stuck to your head?

Of course, Sam knew better than to actually ask that, so he just smiled at the guy and waited for him to come order something. Instead, the guy just stood near the wall, looking like he was trying to stare at the menu, but ended up glancing at the door about every two seconds. He had a rose in one hand that he kept nervously twirling between his fingers. It didn't take a genius to realize that he was waiting for someone.

Sam smiled as he started wiping down the already-clean counter just to make himself feel like he was doing something productive. Okay, maybe it was a little weird to hope that the guy and whoever he was waiting for would have their date here. But customers always made his shifts more interesting, and though never intentionally eavesdrop on anyone, most people either didn't realize that he could overhear them when they talked that loud in an almost-empty shop, or they didn't care. Sam had heard some really interesting stuff that way.

After ten minutes, the guy was still standing there, waiting. Sam frowned, then shook his head and turned back to organizing the baked goods in the display case (which he'd already done twice that afternoon). But when five more minuted passed and nobody else had entered the store, Sam felt the need to say something. "Dude, I don't think she's coming."

For a moment, the guy didn't seem to realize that Sam was talking to him. Then he turned to Sam, a confused look on his face. "Excuse me?"

Sam held up his hands defensively. The guy didn't look angry or annoyed, but Sam had dealt with enough stressed-out customers to know that some of them could snap at him at the slightest provocation. "The girl that you're waiting for. I'm not saying it to be rude or anything. It's just that she's fifteen minutes late to your date, and that doesn't seem like a very good sign."

"Oh," the guy said, then shook his head. "No, we're meeting at eight. I just got here early." After a moment, he asked, "How did you know I was going on a date?"

"You're holding a rose. There's something romantic going down," Sam pointed out. "Also, you're clothes," he added as an afterthought. The guy was wearing a really nice button-down shirt with black pants and a bow tie. No teenage guy that Sam knew dressed that well unless he was trying to impress someone. "And even if you got here early, it's still seven minutes after eight. That's still kind of late."

"Maybe I just like to dress nicely," the guy said. "And anyway, that's not that long. I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"He?" Sam asked.

The guy just stared at him. Judging by the expression on his face, he hadn't meant to say that.

"Hey, no big deal," Sam said quickly, since he knew that there were some real homophobic jerks in Lima, and didn't want this guy to think that he was one of them. "Love is love, right?" After a moment he added, "I'm Sam," even though the guy could probably read his name tag, just to be polite.

The guy smiled. "I'm Blaine," he said, walking forward to shake Sam's hand. "And thank you. Most people don't react as well as you did."

Sam snorted. "Don't thank me for not being a jerk to you," he said. "I mean, that's how everyone should act, right?"

Blaine's smile widened, but he said, "I don't think most of this town agrees with you."

"Well, this town is stupid," Sam said. "So, who are you meeting for your date?"

Blaine shrugged, suddenly looking much less comfortable. "Just a guy who's in the Warblers with me. My school's glee club," he clarified, before Sam could ask what a Warbler was.

"Cool," Sam said. "One of the guys on my football team tried to get me to join the glee club. I'm not sure if I will, though."

"You definitely should," Blaine said, suddenly looking excited, and way happier than he'd looked when he'd talked about his date. "It's a ton of fun. Well, I guess I can't speak for the program at your school, but anything that involves singing is worth it. Although, again, I guess I can't speak for you."

"I like singing," Sam said with a shrug. He played guitar and sang all the time for Stacey and Stevie, and it'd be fun to have a bigger audience, though it wasn't like it was something he absolutely loved. But clearly it was for Blaine. "Do you perform a lot?"

Blaine nodded, giving him a grin that looked a little sheepish. "Malls, competitions, theme parks. It doesn't really matter where. Any place that will pay me to do it."

"People actually pay you to sing?" Sam asked. He hadn't really heard of any jobs like that around Lima. He figured that only famous people got to do stuff like that. "That makes you, like, a rock star or something!"

Blaine laughed. "I was in the second row of dancers at the local amusement part," he said. "I don't think that's the same as being a rock star." Then he grinned. "But yeah, it's a lot of fun."

"I bet." Sam kind of wished that he'd heard about some of these jobs before. Although, he probably wouldn't be good enough to get a job like that, since he'd never sung to anyone outside of his family before, so he didn't have a whole lot of experience. Still, it would definitely beat working at the Lima Bean five days a week.

Blaine leaned forward with his elbows on the counter, looking interested. "So, if you like singing, why aren't you in Glee club?" he asked, then immediately added, "Sorry, I'm not trying to pry. I'm just curious."

Sam shrugged. "Dude, it's fine," he said truthfully. After spending five hours doing practically nothing, any conversation was an improvement. Blaine could ask him anything and Sam would probably answer just to keep himself from dying of boredom. "Glee club isn't really cool, you know? Finn, Mike, and Puck all get crap from the rest of the football team because they're also in Glee. I guess I'm not sure if I want to open myself up to that."

Blaine nodded, looking like he was thinking that over. "I understand wanting to avoid bullying," he said after a moment, "but it seems silly to avoid something you love just because of that. If you change your behavior to suit them, then all you're doing is letting them win, and telling them that they can get away with treating you like this, because you won't do anything to stop them. Do you want to let them get away with that?"

Sam didn't say anything for a moment, and Blaine quickly said, "Sorry, I should mind my own business. I'm not trying to tell you what to do. It's just a fairly personal subject for me."

"Oh, no, you don't have to. I mean, it's fine," Sam said immediately. "I was just thinking that you're kind of right." Sam hadn't thought of it that way, but now he could see what Blaine meant. The last thing he wanted was to let a jerk like Karofsky control him, and wasn't that kind of what he was doing? Sure, he could keep his head down and try not to draw attention, but he didn't want to let some jerks scare him into not being himself. And okay, it wasn't like he would be devastated if he couldn't join Glee club – he wasn't passionate about singing the way Blaine obviously was. But he did like to sing, and he wanted to, so why was he letting the football guys stop him?

Not to mention that he was bisexual, and didn't want to go back into the closet. It wasn't like he planned on telling people – he was a firm believer that sexuality shouldn't matter, so he didn't usually say anything unless the subject came up somehow – but he did want to be able to come out if he decided to. And how would be manage that if he couldn't even join Glee out of fear of what the jocks would say?

Sam decided that he was going to find Finn on Monday and ask if he could still join the club.

"So, why's it so personal?" Sam asked Blaine. Now that his decision had been made, Sam was pretty eager to find out more about the other boy.

Blaine looked a little uncomfortable, but he said, "I spent far too long trying to stay in the closet at my last school. I eventually came out, which didn't exactly go well." Blaine winced, then seemed to shrug off whatever he was thinking about and added, "But I did realize that I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved because of something I'm not."

"That's actually pretty smart," Sam said with a smile, though he wasn't entirely sure if he could say the same thing. It was definitely something that he wanted to be true about himself, though. And now he definitely wanted to know Blaine better, and not just so he'd have someone to talk to during his shift.

He glanced at the clock. It was eight fifteen. "I really don't think your date is coming," he said, making sure to keep his voice sympathetic, which was easy, because he really did feel bad for Blaine. "Why don't you get yourself something to drink, and we can talk for a while? It'll even be my treat."

Blaine smiled, not looking particularly upset for someone who had been stood up. "Sounds great, but you don't have to pay."

"I can. It's the least I can do after the awesome advice you gave me," Sam said.

He had a plan. It'd probably be bad timing to ask Blaine out immediately after he'd been stood up. But Sam could be nice to him all evening, and act like it was a date. Then, at the end of the night, Sam would ask if Blaine wanted to get together for dinner sometime. And by then, enough time would have passed that Blaine would be over the rejection and ready to say yes to Sam, which would be awesome.

Blaine shook his head and pulled out his wallet. "I'll have a medium drip," he said, pulling out a five dollar bill.

Sam was about to ring up Blaine's order, but before he could, the bell above the door rang. A tall guy in an expensive-looking jacket walked in, and judging by the look on Blaine's face, this was the guy he'd been waiting for. Sam tried to conceal his disappointment, though he noticed that Blaine didn't look entirely happy about the guy's arrival.

"Woah," the guy said, raising his eyebrows and looking Blaine up and down. "Forget everything I've ever said about you looking hot in the blazer, because clearly I'd never seen how good you look without it on." He spotted the rose still hanging limply from Blaine's fingers and asked, "Is that for me? That's so sweet." He smiled and plucked it from Blaine's hand.

That was the exact moment that Sam decided that he didn't like this guy.

"Sebastian," Blaine said, his voice stiff. "You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago."

"Yeah, the drive took longer than I thought," Sebastian said. Which wasn't an apology, Sam noticed. Sebastian wrapped one arm around Blaine and said, "But I'm here now, which means that our date can officially get started."

"What do you want to order?" Sam asked, keeping his voice coldly polite. He didn't want to be rude, especially when that could get him in serious trouble with his boss. But at the same time, he wanted to make sure that Sebastian – and especially Blaine – knew what he thought of this guy.

"Oh, we're not staying," Sebastian said, not even turning toward Sam.

Judging by the look on his face, Blaine hadn't been aware of that. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Don't you say that you wanted to get drinks?"

Sebastian smirked slightly. "Yes, but I didn't believe that you honestly thought I meant coffee. We're going to get the good types of drinks."

Blaine took a step back. "I don't know," he said. "I don't really like that kind of thing."

"Oh, don't worry, they never card," Sebastian said dismissively. "Besides, didn't you say that you wish you got to dance more during our songs? I'm really looking forward to seeing what your dance moves look like when you don't have to stick with the choreography."

"A club?" Blaine said doubtfully.

"Those places can be pretty dangerous, you know," Sam said, though he didn't really have room to talk. Back before he moved to Ohio, he and his friends had sneaked into clubs before, and it wasn't like anything bad had happened. But he knew that drinking led to all sorts of bad decisions, and based on the way that Sebastian was eying Blaine, that could be pretty dangerous for Blaine.

"Does it look like you're part of this conversation?" Sebastian said, glaring at Sam for a moment before turning back to Blaine. "Come on, let loose for once. It'd be too much of a waste if someone as drop-dead sexy as you didn't go out and show it off every once in a while."

Blaine still didn't look sure, and when he turned to look at Sam, Sam was sure that he was going to tell Sebastian to leave. Instead, Blaine dropped the five dollar bill he still held into the tip jar. "Thanks for talking with me, Sam," he said, not really looking Sam in the eye. "See you around?"

"See you," Sam echoed. Blaine was already walking out the door with Sebastian's arm wrapped around his waist again. Sam wanted to shout for him to stop, and say that this was a terrible idea. But the door closed before he could, leaving Sam along in the empty shop.

Tonight's shift really, really sucked.

* * *

Sunday's shift went by pretty fast. That was mostly because he only had to work until noon, and the mornings were always their busiest time. By eleven thirty, they were swamped with enough customers that Sam didn't even have time to count the minutes until the end of his shift. Which was weird, because normally he started his countdown right after his shift began.

Sam finished making one customer's smoothie (which should have been his coworker's job, but once again, she wasn't doing anything). He handed it over then hurried back to the register. "Welcome to the Lima Bean, may I take your order?" Only then did he look up and realize who was next in line. "Blaine!"

Blaine smiled a little hesitantly. "Hey, Sam," he said.

Sam grinned, extremely relieved to see Blaine here. Ever since Friday night, he'd been worried about what had happened to Blaine, probably more than he should have considering they'd only talked to each other for a few minutes. But that was long enough for Sam to know that he liked Blaine, and wanted to get to know him better. And long enough to tell that he deserved someone better than some snobby creep who kept staring at Blaine like he was a piece of meat.

"Medium drip?" Sam asked, his finger already hovering over the button on the cash register, just waiting for Blaine to confirm.

Blaine looked surprised. "You remember my coffee order?"

"Of course I do," Sam said with a shrug. "Talking to you was pretty much the only interesting thing to happen all night. Why wouldn't I remember it?"

Blaine smiled and ducked his head slightly. "Thank you."

Sam rang up the order and quickly made Blaine's coffee. But he hesitated as he handed it to Blaine, eying the long line of people still waiting. There was no way that he could stand around and talk, especially since he was having a hard enough time working the shift by himself. But this might be his only chance to see Blaine. "Do you think you could hang around for a while? I get off in half an hour. Maybe we could hang out or something?"

To his relief, Blaine smiled and nodded. "I'd like that," he said. His fingers brushed against Sam's for a second as he took his cup. He stood there smiling at Sam for a moment longer, then walked over and grabbed a seat at the nearest table.

Sam spent the rest of his shift hurriedly filling orders. He found himself glancing at Blaine as he worked, worried that Blaine would get tired of waiting, or mad at Sam for making him stick around. Blaine had his phone out and looked like he was reading something on it, not looking bored or upset at all. A few times he glanced up and caught Sam looking, but he always just smiled whenever their eyes met, then turned back to his phone. There were also a few times when Sam looked up and realized that Blaine was already watching him. He tried not to read too much into that, especially since Blaine had just gone on a date on Friday. For all he knew, Blaine and Sebastian could be dating.

Sam really hoped that Blaine and Sebastian weren't dating.

Finally, it was time for Sam to clock out. He quickly made a second medium drip and grabbed a tea for himself, then headed over to the table where Blaine sat. "Here," he said, setting the drink in front of Blaine, then sitting down across from him.

Blaine looked up, surprised. "You didn't have to buy me another drink," he said, even though Sam knew that he'd finished his last drink ten minutes ago.

Sam shrugged. "That's one good thing about working here. Free drinks!" Technically, he probably wasn't supposed to give free drinks to anyone else. But Sam hardly ever got himself a free drink, so he figured he was entitled, especially since he knew he worked a lot harder than a lot of his coworkers.

Blaine smiled and took a sip. "Thank you very much. This is great," he said.

Sam took a sip of his own drink, mostly to stall, then slowly set the cup onto the table. "So," he said, watching his cup like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "How did your date go on Friday?"

"Oh," Blaine said, his voice suddenly going stiff and uncomfortable. "Not very well," he admitted slowly. "I shouldn't have said yes when he asked me out."

Sam relaxed. "Oh, good," he said, feeling a smile appear on his face. "He was a jerk. I was kind of hoping that you wouldn't date him." Then he realized that a bad date at a bar could mean some very bad things, especially for someone who didn't drink much, and his good mood died. "What did you guys do? I mean, did it go okay?"

Blaine covered his face with one hand. "I am never drinking again," he half-moaned, which made Sam lean forward, suddenly really worried about what could have happened. But then Blaine shook his head. "Nothing happened between us, if that's what you're wondering," he said. Then he bit his lip and said, "It almost did. I threw up on him before we could get that far, and then was somehow smart enough to call my friend Wes for a ride home. He picked me up and then gave me a twenty-minute lecture about how I'm apparently small enough to get drunk really, really easily. As if I hadn't figured that one out on my own."

Sam smiled. "So you and Sebastian are over?" he asked.

"Yeah," Blaine said. "It's going to be horribly awkward, since we're still in the Warblers together, but it's over."

Sam couldn't help but grin at that, and he didn't try to hide it, either. He was really glad that Blaine wasn't with that guy anymore.

"You know, this is a really weird conversation," Blaine said thoughtfully, tapping the side of his drink. "It's not the kind of thing you usually talk about with someone you just met, is it?"

Sam thought about that for a minute, then shrugged. "I like our weird conversation."

Blaine smiled. "So do I."

By the time they left the coffee shop nearly three hours later, Sam knew much more about Blaine. He knew that Blaine loved Disney and that singing in theme parks was his favorite way to spend the summer, and that he was a giant solo hog, at least based on the way he described the auditions the Warblers were holding in a few weeks. Blaine never said anything bad about any of his competition, but from the way he spoke, it was so obvious that he didn't want either of them to get a solo, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

Sam had told Blaine a ton about himself, too. Blaine knew about Stacey and Stevie, and how Sam had taught himself to play the guitar so that he could entertain them when their parents stopped being able to afford a TV. Sam had even mentioned that his dad had lost his job, though he hadn't mentioned quite how bad the situation was.

Sam was also more sure than ever that he wanted to ask Blaine out, but he still wasn't sure how to do it, or if he should. Blaine hadn't said anything more about his failed date with Sebastian, meaning that Sam wasn't sure if this was too soon. Even if Sebastian was a complete jerk, Blaine must have liked something about him, or else they wouldn't have gone on a date in the first place. If Sam asked, would Blaine accept, or should Sam give him more time to get over Sebastian?

"I'll see you later," Blaine said, before Sam could reach a decision.

"Will you stop by tomorrow?" Sam asked, since he still hadn't made his mind up. This would give him time to think about it.

"Do you want me to?" Blaine asked, looking hopeful.

Sam just snorted and rolled his eyes. "Of course I do," he said. For one, Blaine was awesome. And if Sam hadn't wanted Blaine around, he wouldn't have asked Blaine to come back.

"Then I will," Blaine said, giving Sam a wide grin that completely lit up his face. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"See you."

Tomorrow. That was when Sam would ask Blaine out, he decided. He'd do it tomorrow no matter what.

* * *

"So, I joined Glee club," Sam said casually as he passed a second coffee over to Blaine. It was Wednesday afternoon, and Blaine was sitting on a stool by the counter. That way, Sam could talk to him when there weren't any customers to serve while still doing his job.

Blaine had been coming in every day during his shift. He wouldn't get there until around six or seven, and then he'd normally stay until about nine, usually doing his homework while they talked. Which was something that Sam would have liked to do, but reading was hard enough for him that he couldn't multitask, meaning that he had to get his work done at home, when there was nothing to distract him.

Sam also still hadn't asked Blaine out. But he would. Any day now.

Blaine looked up at him and grinned. "That's great!" he said. "What do you think of it?"

Sam shrugged, not entirely sure. "It means I have to try to change my hours so that I don't start work until four. And I'll probably have to skip a few practices on days that I really need to work. But yeah, I like it a lot. All the people seem cool."

"Oh, that's very important," Blaine said. "One bad member can ruin your group, trust me."

Sam frowned, sensing that something was off in the way Blaine said that. "Is Sebastian still giving you trouble?"

Blaine shrugged, looking away. "Somewhat. The good thing is that Wes is on the council, along with my friend David, so they're helping me put a stop to it."

"Why did you even go out with him in the first place?" Sam froze the second the words were out of his mouth. It was something he'd been wondering, but he hadn't actually planned on saying it out loud. Still, he did want to know, so instead of trying to take his question back, he just waited to see how Blaine would answer.

Blaine looked even more uncomfortable now, if that was possible. "It's really silly," he said after a minute.

"Dude, no it's not," Sam said. "I don't even know what you're going to say, but if it's what you feel, then no way is it silly."

Blaine smiled slightly at that, though he still didn't look at Sam. "Do you ever fantasize about having some big, amazing romance with someone? And you want it so badly that you keep thinking about it, even if you're not sure that it will ever happen."

"Yes." Sam stared straight at Blaine while he answered. If Blaine would look at him, then Sam was sure that he'd be able to see exactly how Sam felt about him. But Blaine's eyes stayed trained on his coffee cup.

"That was why," Blaine said with a small shrug. "He's the only gay guy that I really know at Dalton – at least, the only gay guy who isn't already dating someone else. So I wanted to have this romance with someone. And even though I didn't really think that Sebastian would be that person, he kept complimenting me, and I was flattered, so..." He shrugged again, and shook his head. "It was really silly."

"Dude, I already said that it's not," Sam said, and was rewarded when Blaine smiled again. "I know that feeling, and it's nothing to feel bad about. I mean, next time don't go to a gay bar if you're looking for someone romantic, but I totally get it."

This was it. The perfect time to tell Blaine his feelings. All Sam would have to do is tell Blaine that he was also looking for awesome romance, and say that they could find it together. Or maybe something that meant the same thing but didn't sound as cheesy.

"You know, Wes gave me a lecture about this, too," Blaine said, making Sam chuckle. Over the past few days, Sam had heard a whole lot about Blaine's friend Wes. He sounded like he was nice but super serious, and he kept lecturing people about pretty much everything that they did. Blaine made a point of mentioning that they were usually lectures that people needed to hear, though. "He said that I'm too in love with the idea of being in love, and I'm starting to think that he's right. It thinking that I should just take a break and stop worrying about finding a boyfriend, just enjoy being single for a while. I mean, if I'm desperate enough that I'd accept a date from Sebastian, I'm probably not in any position to date, right?"

Sam forced a smile. "If that's what you need, dude."

Time. Okay, Sam could give him time. And as soon as Blaine was comfortable and ready to date someone, then Sam would be first in line to ask him out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the second part of this story! There is going to be one more chapter, which will be published later this week.**

**As always, I'd like to thank my amazing beta, Tuuzmorado.**

* * *

"There's someone in your glee club named Kurt, right?" Blaine asked a few weeks later.

"Yeah," Sam said, frowning a little. "Why?"

Blaine bit his lip and leaned forward, lowering his voice so that Sam also had to lean closer in order to hear him. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but he came by my school today."

"He did?" Sam had thought it was a little weird that Kurt hadn't been in study hall today, which was the one class that they shared. But he had been in glee, so Sam hadn't worried about it. "Why?"

"To spy on us, sort of," Blaine said. "We started talking about a lot of things. I can't tell you what he said – I don't want to betray his confidence – but it sounds like he's having some trouble. Some Neanderthal jock who's giving him a hard time?"

"Karofsky," Sam said immediately. "Well, I've never seen it, so I don't know if it's him, but he's the type to do something like that."

"Do you think you could keep an eye on him?" Blaine asked. "And don't mention that I've told you this. I wouldn't have said anything, but I'm really worried about him, and it's not like I can watch over him when we don't even go to the same school."

"Dude, of course!" Sam said, surprised that Blaine thought he even needed to ask. Sam had already planned on doing that from the moment that Blaine said something was wrong.

Blaine smiled, looking relieved. "Thanks, Sam. You're the best."

Sam grinned and tried not to show how much he liked the praise.

He tried to watch over Kurt, starting the next day. But when Blaine showed up at McKinley two days later to confront Karofsky, Sam knew that something had gone wrong. He watched the confrontation from one of the tables in the courtyard, far enough away that he couldn't hear what was going on, and they didn't notice him. When Karofsky shoved Blaine into the railing, Sam instinctively ran forward to help, but Kurt shoved Karofsky away before he could get there. Then Karofsky walked away, and Sam hesitated.

He really, really wanted to go see what was going on, and ask if he could help. But Blaine and Kurt were sitting really close and looking like they were talking about something personal. Kurt looked like he was almost crying, and judging by everything Sam knew about Kurt, he wouldn't want someone else to see him like that. Dude always tried to act strong, even when his dad was in the hospital.

Sam hesitated for a moment longer, then walked away. Blaine could probably handle it better than he could, anyway.

But he did glue himself to Kurt's side as much as he could. It wasn't easy, considering that they only had one class together, and there were still times when Kurt was along in the hallway. But Sam tried his best, and it seemed like it was making a difference. Kurt seemed happier, at least, and really grateful. Sam was just glad he could help, because Kurt definitely didn't deserve something like this, especially when his dad was still recovering.

And when some of the other guys confronted Karofsky in the locker room, Sam didn't hesitate to join in, even though Karofsky was a whole lot tougher than he was. It got him thrown into the locker and punched around, but it worked, because Karofsky was expelled a few days later. That was worth taking a few hits over.

Not to mention that the way Blaine fussed over his bruises that night made it doubly worth it.

For a while, it seemed like everything would be okay. But then Karofsky came back, and Kurt had to change schools. Sam sulked for days afterward, feeling like he hadn't done a good enough job protecting Kurt, even though Blaine kept assuring him that he'd done the best he could.

After that, Kurt began joining them at the Lima Beam most evenings. He and Blaine would both order drinks and sit around talking with Sam all evening. It took a little getting used to, because it seemed like every time Sam walked away, the subject would shift to fashion or some actress that Sam had never heard of. Either that, or they'd start talking about Warbler stuff, like which song they were going to sing next, or the drama going down in the group. (Apparently Sebastian had finally given up on seducing Blaine, and had moved on to trying to break up two guys named Jeff and Nick so that he could sleep with them both. It sounded interesting, but Sam had no idea who either of those guys were, meaning that he didn't care as much as Blaine and Kurt did.) And as much as he liked Kurt, he missed spending time along with Blaine. But he got used to it after a while.

Plus, Kurt didn't come down every single day, and Blaine usually did, which meant that they still got to spend time alone.

Sam asked about it one time. "Why didn't Kurt come today?"

Blaine shrugged. "He said that he didn't feel like making the drive. He's tired and doesn't want to be stuck in the car for that long."

Sam frowned. "How long of a drive is it?" He'd never really thought about it before. He had no idea where Dalton Academy was, but he'd just assumed that it was somewhere nearby.

"Uh..." Blaine hesitated and didn't answer, which just made Sam narrow his eyes at him. Finally, Blaine said, "I found a really good shortcut. If I go that way, it only takes about an hour and a half. Sometimes even less than that, depending on traffic."

Sam's eyes widened. "You've been driving three hours every day? Seriously?"

"It's not like that's the only reason I come," Blaine argued. "My family lives in Lima, so I come home for the weekends, anyway." He shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? How do you even have that much time?" Sam couldn't believe it. Three hours for one round trip. And Blaine had been driving that every day for months now. "Why? You know that I'd be cool with just hanging out on the weekends, right? I mean, I'd totally miss seeing you every day, but I don't want to make you drive that far, either."

Blaine glanced down, then back at Sam. "Can I tell you something?" he asked in a small voice. When Sam nodded, he took a deep breath and said, "It's kind of weird hanging around Dalton."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"I love being a part of the Warblers. And I really like being the lead singer – you probably know that already," he added with a chuckle. Sam had been teasing him about being a solo hog for the past week, ever since Kurt had mentioned that Blaine was going to be singing both songs at Sectionals next week. "But sometimes I wish that they wouldn't treat me like such a... like a rock star or something."

Sam couldn't help but snort, even though he could tell that Blaine was completely serious, just because that was the last thing he'd expected. "You? Not wanting to be treated like a rock star?"

"Okay, it sounds weird," Blaine admitted. "And I like that I get to sing a bunch of solos, and I like that I have a lot of control with the Warblers. But... it's like they all think I'm perfect, and most of the Warblers keep sucking up to me. I'll admit that I kind of like that, too. But it also makes it hard to be friends with them, because they keep treating me so differently than they treat everyone else." He thought for a minute, then shook his head, covering his face with one hand. "Gosh, that sounds really narcissistic when I say it like that, doesn't it? Forget I said anything."

"No, it doesn't," Sam said. "So, you don't have friends at Dalton?"

Blaine glanced up at Sam through his fingers. "I do. I mean, the Warblers are my friends, just not close ones. But I feel like they all expect me to be perfect, so I have to act like I am. Except when I'm around Wes, which is why I spend time with him, but the two of us aren't that close." He dropped his hand and shrugged. "You and Kurt are the only friends that I can really be myself around, so I don't mind driving for a while to spend time with you."

Sam smiled, trying not to show that Blaine's answer made him feel warm and happy all over. "Doesn't Kurt board at Dalton, though?" he asked. "Why do you drive all the way down here without him when you could just hang out with him?"

Blaine glanced away for a moment, his cheeks going red. "So that I can see you," he said simply.

Sam really hoped that meant what he wanted it to mean.

Christmas, Sam decided. He would ask Blaine out on Christmas. It was one of the best holidays, so what time could be better? Plus, it would give Sam a month to gather his courage and do it the right way. He wanted to find Blaine the absolute perfect gift, and confess his feelings in the most romantic way possible. Then he and Blaine could finally date, and everything would be perfect.

* * *

Sam didn't know where he had gone wrong.

Actually, he knew exactly what had gone wrong. He'd waited too long.

It was the last Wednesday before Christmas break, meaning that both McKinley and Dalton only had two more days before the end of the year. Exams at Dalton were extremely difficult, meaning that neither Blaine nor Kurt had much time to come to the Lima Bean lately. Sam said that of course he understood, and tried not to pout to hard about it.

But when Blaine texted Sam to say that he was coming to the Lima Bean today, Sam had gotten way overexcited. Especially since Blaine was leaving Friday evening to spend Christmas with his family in California, so this would be the last chance that they'd get to see each other a little before New Year's Eve. Sam had Blaine's Christmas gift carefully tucked away in his bag, and he had spent all day dreaming about giving it to Blaine.

All of that excitement died the moment Blaine said, "I think I like Kurt."

Sam blinked. "What?"

Blaine smiled, looking a little dreamy. "He's just great, you know. And I love spending time with him, so I think it would be perfect. What do you think?"

Sam swallowed hard. "If it makes you happy, dude," he managed to say.

At least Kurt would be better than that Sebastian guy. Sam made himself smile, because Kurt and Blaine really would make a good couple. He could see it, if he looked past his own jealousy. Kurt was nice, and funny, and awesome. Those were all things would make him good for Blaine, so Blaine really would be happy.

It made Sam want to go hide in his room with a gallon of ice cream and eat himself sick like a girl in one of those romantic comedies that his little sister kept making him watch with her. But Blaine didn't have to know that.

"It will." Blaine bit his lip. "Do you think he likes me back?"

"I know that he does," Sam said, in complete honesty. He'd been able to tell for a while now that Kurt had a crush on Blaine, but Blaine had never seemed even a little interested, so Sam hadn't thought about it too much. He didn't know what had changed now. Maybe Blaine had suddenly realized his feelings. Or maybe Sam had been misinterpreting everything Blaine did all year. He wasn't sure which option would be more upsetting.

"And are you okay with this?" Blaine asked, looking nervous.

Sam forced his smile to stay in place. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't want you to think that you'll become the third wheel if Kurt and I start dating," Blaine said. "Because you won't. You're always going to be my best friend no matter what."

That finally got a genuine smile out of Sam, even though this whole situation still sucked. "You're my best friend, too," he said, holding his hand out for a fist bump, which Blaine smiled and gave him.

"So, is there anyone you have feelings for?" Blaine asked, his voice light and teasing. If this had come from anyone else, then Sam would have thought that he was saying it to be mean. But this was Blaine, so Sam knew that he honestly had no idea that Sam liked him. "What about Quinn? You two were amazing at Sectionals, you know."

Sam shook his head. The rest of the glee club seemed to think that there was something going on between him and Quinn, and ever since Kurt mentioned that they'd won the duet contest together, Blaine had been convinced of the same thing. Plus, Sam had mentioned once that he'd kissed her while they'd been practicing for their duet. That had been a day after Blaine had said that he wasn't ready to date anyone. Blaine had basically just turned him down (even if he didn't actually know it), and Quinn had seemed interested, so he'd gone for it. Then Quinn had turned him down and Sam had realized that he wasn't really into her, anyway. It had been a stupid thing to do, and ever stupider to mention it to Blaine, who took it the complete wrong way.

"I told you, she was flirting with me, so I kissed her. It doesn't mean that I actually want to date her." To be honest, if she had accepted him back in at the beginning of October, he probably would have said yes. But the longer he hung around with Blaine, the more sure he became that he didn't want to date anyone else. But he didn't want to say that, since Blaine clearly didn't like him back. "We really are just friends. I'm pretty sure she's trying to win back Finn."

"Make her see that you're better than Finn, then!" Blaine said, with a ton of enthusiasm. Sam rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile, even though he hated that Blaine kept pushing him to date someone else. But Blaine was trying to help. Sam appreciated that much, at least. "Do something romantic for Christmas, maybe. I'm sure that would win her over."

Sam just shook his head. "Speaking of Christmas, I got you something," Sam said. He started to go get it, but just then the bell over the door rang, and three customers walked in. He sighed, and turned to take their orders.

"I can handle this one," his new coworker, Erin, said as she walked over. She had started working here a couple weeks ago, after Sam's last coworker had finally been fired. "Go get him his gift. Not that I'm eavesdropping on you or anything," she added with a grin.

Sam waved that off. He knew that in a place this small, it was easy to overhear what everyone else was saying. "Thank you so much," he said, then headed to the back room where he'd left his bag. When he came back out a minute later, there was a small box sitting on the counter, neatly wrapper with a giant pink bow on top. "Dude, what's this?"

Blaine smiled. "You think you're the only one who bought a Christmas gift?" he asked, nudging the box toward Sam. "Open yours first."

"Thanks," Sam said, eagerly ripping open the box. To be honest, he'd bought gifts for his friends, but he hadn't really expected anyone to give him one. He paused for a moment before taking the lid off the box, trying to imagine what could be inside. Then his curiosity got the better of him, and he yanked it open. "CDs?" he asked.

Blaine nodded as Sam pulled them out of the box and started looking through them. A few were real CDs that Blaine must have bought, but the rest of them had clearly been burned from his iTunes. Those ones all had songs from tons of different artists on them, and had homemade covers with titles like "My Favorites" or "Songs That Remind Me of You".

Blaine looked a little shy as Sam looked through them. "You mentioned a while ago that you don't have an iPod, just an old CD player. And I know that you can't afford to buy many CDs, so I figured..."

"Dude, I love it," Sam said, trying to keep himself from choking up. It wasn't really working. He grabbed a pile from the box and held them up. "There's gotta be at least fifty CDs here. How'd you do this? It must be every song on your iPod."

"It is," Blaine said. "I went through and divided my whole iPod into playlists, then burned each of those playlists onto a CD." He shrugged. "It took a few hours, but it wasn't that big a deal. I'm glad you like it."

"Dude," Sam repeated, but didn't know what to say after that. So instead of coming up with something, he leaned across the counter and pulled Blaine in for a hug. It was the first time they'd ever hugged each other, and Sam really, really loved it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Blaine squeezed him back tightly for a moment, then pulled away. "Okay, I want to open my gift now."

Sam smiled a little nervously as he handed over the cardboard tube. "I didn't wrap it," he said, unnecessarily.

"That's fine," Blaine assured him as he reached into the tube and pulled out the picture rolled up inside. Sam held his breath as Blaine unrolled it.

Blaine's eyes widened, and for several seconds he didn't say anything at all. Then he asked, "Sam, did you paint this?"

Sam swallowed. "Yeah." He'd borrowed Mike's phone during Sectionals so he could take a few pictures of Blaine singing on stage, then printed off the best one and used it as a model for his painting. He knew that the results hadn't been the best – there were a bunch of mistakes that he was kicking himself over – but he hadn't had time to redo it.

"Sam," Blaine said. "This is beautiful. Seriously, I don't even know what to say." He carefully rolled the painting back up, then placed it back into the cardboard tube to keep it safe. "I'll hang it in my dorm room," he promised, and he reached across to give Sam another hug. "Thank you."

Sam hugged Blaine back and really didn't want to let go. But after a few moments, Blaine pulled away again. "I'm sorry, but I've really got to get going before the roads get worse."

"Oh, of course," Sam said immediately. All the snow was making the roads super slippery, and he was already worried about Blaine driving so far. "Text me when you get back to Dalton?" Normally Sam tried to avoid texting, since his phone had the cheapest data plan his family could get, which meant that every text cost extra. But it would be worth it to know that Blaine had gotten back safely.

"I will," Blaine promised. "Merry Christmas, Sam."

"Merry Christmas, Blaine."

"You like him," Erin said as soon as Blaine was out the door. She turned and smiled at Sam as she wiped down the blender. "You two totally like each other." She didn't sound judgmental, more like she was just stating a fact.

Sam shook his head. "I like him," he admitted. "But he likes someone else."

"I doubt it," Erin said, then turned and walked into the back room before Sam could ask what she meant.

* * *

Sam and Blaine spent the whole break emailing each other as much as they could. Which wasn't often, because Sam had to pick up extra shifts, and he could only email Blaine from the library computer. But he found time whenever he could, stopping at the library either before or after work, or taking Stacey and Stevie there to for the afternoon on his days off.

That was how Sam learned that Blaine had convinced Kurt to sing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with him on Thursday night, but that he hadn't actually asked Kurt out yet. Sam couldn't help but be happy about that, even though he knew that it just meant Blaine would ask him out when he got back from California.

Sam and Kurt didn't see each other much over the break, but the day that Blaine got back, all three of them met each other in the Lima Bean to hang out. Sam didn't have to work that day, so he grabbed a table in the corner and waited for the other two to arrive.

"I have big news," Kurt announced the moment he approached Sam. "Big, big news!"

Sam wasn't particularly surprised – Kurt had practically been vibrating with excitement since the moment he'd entered the room. "What's your news? Or are you going to wait until Blaine gets here?"

Kurt shook his head. "I am way too excited to wait," he said, a grin forming on his face. "I met a guy!"

Sam froze, shocked. "You what?"

"I met a guy," Kurt said. "I went to Between the Sheets to buy Rachel some sheet music for Christmas. I would have gotten her clothes, but she's banned me from doing that, since she says that I always insult her whenever we talk about fashion together. If I'm insulting, it's for a good reason, might I add. But anyway, I was looking through music when this guy came over and complimented my clothes, and we went out for coffee. It must have been on your day off, since I didn't see you. But we went on a date!"

"Oh," Sam said. "I kind of thought that you liked Blaine."

Kurt shrugged. "I kind of did," he said. "But I know that Blaine doesn't like me back, so I decided that there's no sense being hung up on him forever."

Sam frowned, wondering if he should mention that Blaine did like him back. He didn't want to betray Blaine's confidence like that, but it might be the nice thing to do, to make sure that they could both be happy together. Honestly, Sam really didn't want to say anything. But he'd feel selfish if he kept his mouth shut just because he wanted Blaine for himself.

"Anyway, we haven't known each other long, but I really like Chandler," Kurt said, and the way he smiled made it obvious that he was telling the truth. "He seems nice, and he sends the funniest text messages. And I loved every second of our date."

"So, is this guy your boyfriend?"

Sam started when he heard Blaine's voice from behind him – Sam hadn't seen Blaine come in. Blaine dropped into the seat next to Sam, across from Kurt, looking uncomfortable.

Kurt nodded, completely not seeming to notice the less-than-thrilled look on Blaine's face. "I think so. I'm not really sure, but I'm pretty sure we are. We're going out to eat tonight," he added.

Blaine smiled. Sam recognized it as the exact same expression that he himself had worn a couple weeks ago, when Blaine had first mentioned that he liked Kurt. "That's great!" Blaine said, with too much enthusiasm to be real. "Tell us about him."

That was all the encouragement Kurt needed to start talking. Sam only half-listened. The rest of him was focusing on Blaine, who was slumping in his seat, looking upset but not nearly as devastated as Sam had feared. Of course, he could just be good at hiding it.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Kurt suddenly asked a few minutes later.

Blaine looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you're obviously upset about something. Don't even try to hide it. So, what's wrong?" Kurt leaned across the table, looking concerned. "Is everything okay with your family?"

Blaine quickly nodded. "Oh, yeah. I mean, my brother is as annoying as always, but it was great to see him again. And my aunt just had a baby, so I got to see my cousin for the first time." Blaine smiled, and this one looked more believable. "It was a great vacation. I missed you both, though."

"I missed you, too, dude," Sam said, giving Blaine a one-armed hug. He wanted to offer whatever comfort he could without letting Kurt know why he needed to offer comfort.

The three of them talked for about half an hour. Sam shared cute stories about Stacey and Stevie's epic plot to catch Santa Claus, trying to make Blaine laugh. And after a few minutes Blaine did seem to genuinely cheer up and enjoy the conversation. But as soon as Kurt left to meet Chandler for dinner, Blaine sighed and slumped in his seat.

"You okay?" Sam asked quietly. "It's just us now, you don't have to pretend to be fine with this."

"No, it's okay," Blaine said. "I guess I'm happy he found someone."

Sam nodded, recognizing that as the same sentiment he'd felt toward Blaine. But being happy for someone wasn't necessarily the same thing as being happy yourself. "Really, are you okay?" Sam asked again. "If you want to rant about it, then I'm all ears." Because Sam could totally handle listening to Blaine get upset about some other guy. That's what friends did, right?

Blaine shook his head. "It's not like Kurt and I were going to happen," he said. "Even if he hadn't started dating Chandler, I probably still wouldn't have asked him out, so it's fine."

Sam said, "Dude, I would have pushed you to ask Kurt out if you'd tried to chicken out." Because Blaine did deserve to be happy, with whichever guy he liked, so if he'd needed a push, then Sam would have helped him out. Even if it would have made him feel like crying a little. Or a lot.

Blaine's face fell, and Sam suddenly realized that that probably wasn't the best thing to say to help make Blaine feel better. So he added, "But it's fine. Kurt and Chandler might not last long, you know. You and Kurt might still have a chance." That was what Sam had been telling himself for the past month about Kurt and Blaine, and it kind of did help. Okay, it didn't actually make him feel much better, but it was the best he could think of.

Blaine smiled, but it looked even more forced than the ones he'd faked earlier. "I don't think it will happen," he said slowly. "But thanks for trying to cheer me up."

"You're welcome," Sam said. "Want to go see a movie or something?"

Blaine's smile started to look a lot more real. "Which one?"

Sam shrugged. "Whichever one comes on next. The point isn't to watch the movie. The point is to have an excuse to eat a ton of candy and junk food to make you feel better."

Blaine smiled and stood. "That's you're cure for heartbreak?"

Sam smiled. "Hey, it can't hurt, right?"

They did end up going to see a movie. Sam insisted that they stop at the dollar store first to get as many bags of cheap candy and bottles of pop that they could possibly sneak in. (Luckily, Sam was wearing his baggy pants with a ton of pockets. Which was a good thing, because Blaine's tight jeans didn't have much room for hiding candy.) The movie they chose turned out to be hilariously bad, and they both spent the whole time laughing. Sam rolled his eyes when Blaine kept insisting that he eat half of the candy, though he eventually gave in and took some, knowing that he'd have to spend some extra time in the gym tomorrow to work it off. All in all, it was almost like being on a real date. Sam could pretend, at least.

He just wished that it was real.


	3. Chapter 3

**This is the final chapter of The Perfect Moment. I hope you all enjoy it. :)**

**As always, I'd like to thank my beta, Tuuzmorado.**

* * *

"What is this?" Kurt asked in a disgusted voice, picking up one of the Valentine's Day decorations. It was Friday night, and Sam was currently decorating the Lima Bean for the holiday, with Blaine and Kurt helping him out. Kurt turned the decoration over in his hand, frowning. Even Sam had to admit that it was kind of weird – it was of two stuffed animal dogs kissing, which didn't even make sense. He didn't say anything, though, since it was his job to put the decorations up no matter how stupid he thought that they were.

Blaine, however, just laughed. "Oh, come on. It's puppy love, and it's adorable," he said, taking the weird stuffed animal dog and setting it on the counter, turning it back and forth until he was satisfied with how it was arranged. Though Sam couldn't see what the point of that was. It was just a stuffed animal – what more could you do to make it look good then to just plop it down somewhere? "Anyway, you have a boyfriend. Isn't this supposed to make this automatically your favorite holiday?"

Kurt smiled, almost despite himself. "I will admit, it's nice having someone to celebrate with. But that doesn't mean that I approve of these tacky decorations, or that I'm going to give into the candy industry's plot to make us buy their products."

Blaine rolled your eyes. "This is the most romantic holiday. You have to buy chocolates!"

"No, I don't," Kurt said. "I'm not getting any for Chandler, and he's not getting any for me. We already agreed." After a moment, Kurt's smile widened. "We didn't say anything about flowers, though. I'm going to stop by the florist to get him a bouquet on Monday, and I'm about ninety-nine percent sure that he's going to do the same."

Blaine grinned. It had been about a month and a half since Kurt and Chandler had started dating, and by now, Blaine looked genuinely happy for his friend. If Sam didn't know better, he would have said that Blaine must not have been that interested in Kurt in the first place, since he got over it so quickly. Though part of Sam worried that Blaine was just hiding his feelings.

"Speaking of Chandler, when do I get to meet him?" Sam asked as he passed some paper hearts over to Blaine for him to hang on the walls. He'd been trying to convince Kurt to bring him by, but apparently Chandler went to school in a town about halfway between Dalton and McKinley, so it didn't make sense for them to come to Lima for their dates. Sam knew that a few of Kurt's friends had met him, including Blaine, but he hadn't gotten the chance yet.

"Monday," Kurt said, his cheeks going slightly pink. "He's coming with me to the mixer at Breadstix." Earlier this week, Kurt had come up with an idea of having a gathering for the Warblers and New Directions, so that they could get to know each other. Everyone had loved the idea, especially when Kurt mentioned that there would be singing involved, so they were meeting there on Valentine's Day.

"Cool," Sam said with a nod, bending down to grab some more decorations from the box.

"Speaking of Valentines Day," Blaine said slowly. "There's this guy I like, and I really want to tell him how I feel. Do you think it'd be too much to sing to him on Valentines Day?"

Sam froze, then slowly turned toward Blaine. Blaine was watching him intently, waiting for an answer. "You met a dude?" he asked, his voice coming out half-strangled. He cleared his throat. "Where? When?"

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, Blaine," he said. "I mean, you've only been hanging out with Sam and I, so how could you have time to meet someone else? Unless-" He gave Sam a significant look.

Wait, was Kurt trying to imply that Sam was the one Blaine was going to ask out? There was no way that could happen, right? Sam tried not to get his hopes up, but he couldn't help but think that it made sense. Sam had been there for Blaine all year, so wouldn't Sam be the one that Blaine would eventually fall for? That was how it always worked in movies, at least.

"I think singing to him on Valentines Day would be perfect," Kurt said, before Blaine had a chance to answer. "Why don't you bring it up at the meeting tomorrow? I'm sure that the Warblers would be willing to back you up, if you want."

"I think I'll try that," Blaine said with a smile. "Though I'm not sure if I'll be able to convince them to go off campus. It was hard enough getting them to agree to sing at Breadstix – two off-campus performances in one day? I don't think that will happen."

"If they don't agree, you could ask this guy to meet you at Dalton," Sam suggested. He'd never actually been to Dalton before, but he'd be more than willing to drive there. If he was the one Blaine was actually talking about, that is. He shouldn't just assume that.

"I was planning on serenading him at his workplace, actually," Blaine said.

Sam smiled. "I think that sounds perfect," he said.

"I'll help you convince them," Kurt said, reaching over to squeeze Blaine's arm. "Between the two of us, I'm sure we can get them to agree. And we'll have all weekend to rehearse the song."

"Wait, you two are rehearsing all weekend?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Kurt said with a small frown. "We need all the time we can get to prepare for the performances at Breadstix. Trust me, music is a whole lot harder and takes a lot longer to prepare when you have to create the instruments with your voices. We'll be working all weekend."

"Then shouldn't you be getting back?" Sam said, glancing at the clock. It was already half past eight o'clock, and he knew that Blaine wasn't supposed to be driving after ten at night. He'd only gotten his license last October, so he still had restrictions on it. Sam didn't want to see them go, but he didn't want Blaine to get in trouble, either.

"Yeah, I guess." Blaine didn't look too happy about it, but he nodded all the same. "I don't think I'll have time to come back down this weekend. Wes is going to make us work crazily hard, and I've got a lot of homework I need to get done."

"Don't worry about it, dude," Sam said. As much as he wanted to see Blaine every day, he got that this was a hell of a commute. Sam was just grateful that Blaine made it down as often as he did. "See you at Breadstix on Monday, then."

"See you." Blaine waved as he and Kurt walked out the door. For a moment, Sam would have sworn that Blaine hesitated, almost like he wanted to say something. Then he shook his head and walked away.

* * *

Sam's phone rang early on Sunday morning. He groaned and reached around his bedside table with his eyes still closed until he finally found it, wondering who could possibly be calling him this early. "Hello?"

"Blaine isn't planning on singing to you."

Sam frowned. "Kurt?" he asked. "What are you even talking about?"

"You know how Blaine was planning on singing to someone on Valentines Day?" Kurt asked. "I thought for sure it was going to be you, but it turns out he was talking about some guy who works at the Gap."

"Oh," Sam said quietly. That was okay, he guessed. It wasn't like Sam had really expected Blaine to sing to him. Except that he kind of had been, and this hurt more than he wanted to let on. "When did he even meet this guy?" Like Kurt had said on Friday, Blaine spent almost all of his free time at the Lima Bean.

"I have no idea," Kurt said, sounding obviously frustrated. "Apparently he's been going to the Gap without telling us, and talking with some guy named Jeremiah. I don't even know how long they've known each other."

"Well, thanks for telling me," Sam said. Part of him wondered why Kurt would call just to tell him this, but he was too upset to care.

"Answer me carefully, because this is really important, Sam," Kurt said. "How does that make you feel?"

"What?" Sam asked. "Why?"

"Because when he started talking about serenading someone on Valentines Day, I was certain that he was talking about you. I know he likes you, Sam. And I was starting to think that you liked him back. Now, I know you insisted that you're not gay, but I've seen the way you look at him, and there's the fact that you keep refusing to date Quinn, so I figured-"

"I do like him," Sam admitted. "I'm not gay – I like both. And I definitely like him." Then he frowned. "Wait, what do you mean he likes me? There's no way that that's true." After all, if Blaine liked Sam, why would he even think about serenading this Jeremiah guy?

Kurt snorted. "Please, he's been making heart eyes at you for months," he said. "Why do you think I gave up on my crush on him? Because I knew he liked you more, so I'd never stand a chance. And I'm glad that I did," Kurt added. "I'd choose Chandler over Blaine any day, at least now that I've gotten to know Chandler better. But still."

"No, I know that that's not true," Sam said. "Blaine liked you last year. He was planning on asking you out and everything." Sam froze. "Uh, can you not tell Blaine that I mentioned that? Because I'm pretty sure that that was supposed to be a secret."

"Yeah, sure," Kurt said airily, sounding like he didn't care about that at all. "And if he was planning on asking me out, it was only because he was trying to get over you."

"Why would he do that?" Sam asked. "I mean, why wouldn't he just ask me out?"

"Sam," Kurt said slowly, "you do realize that he thinks your straight?"

Sam frowned. "What? Why would he think that?"

When Kurt spoke, Sam could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "Let's see, you don't act particularly flaming, you've never mentioned anything about liking boys, and you kissed Quinn. Yes, what could possibly make Blaine think that you're straight?"

"Oh." Sam felt like an idiot now. He'd just assumed that his feeling were obvious enough that Blaine would be able to pick up on it. Apparently not.

"Yeah," Kurt said dryly. "But don't worry. We're going to fix this."

That was how Sam found himself walking into the Gap a little before four o'clock the next day. He'd had to convince one of his coworkers to take over his shift so that he could come here, but once he'd told Erin what he'd had planned, she had immediately promised to cover for him. The Warblers were planning on starting the serenade at exactly four o'clock. Sam planned to stop them before that could happen.

At least, he hoped that he'd stop them. Part of him still worried that Blaine would turn him down, and the serenade would continue as planned. But Sam was trying not to think about it.

"Do you need any help?" a saleswoman asked, walking over to Sam. Probably because he was sure that he had a super-confused look on his face. But seriously, he'd expected the store to be small enough that a group of boys wearing the same outfit would stick out. Apparently not, because Sam couldn't see them anywhere.

"Yeah, have you seen a bunch of guys wearing black and red blazers?" he asked, feeling slightly silly as he did. But her face immediately lit up with understanding. He guessed that the Warblers had attracted attention.

"They're over there," she said, gesturing to the back of the store. He thanked her and headed back to go find them.

He couldn't see most of the Warblers, but it didn't take him long to find Blaine. He was standing over by a shirt display. Kurt stood behind him, his hands on Blaine's shoulders, speaking quietly. Blaine didn't see Sam, but Kurt obviously did. Their eyes met for a second, then Kurt nudged Blaine forward. Sam expected Kurt to have said something to make Blaine wait, but instead, this must have been a signal to the rest of the Warblers, because immediately the background vocals began.

Sam sagged back against a clothes rack and glared at Kurt, wondering why he hadn't stopped Blaine, or tried to stall him. At the very least, there was no reason why he had to encourage Blaine to start the song. Kurt just grinned back at him and gestured at Blaine.

Blaine glanced around. Probably looking for that Jeremiah guy, Sam thought, shaking his head and turning to leave. The last thing he wanted was to have to watch Blaine serenade someone else. But he stopped when Blaine's eyes locked on him, and Blaine grinned.

_You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs.  
But I look around me and I see it isn't so. Oh, no._

Sam glanced around. The Warblers had all stepped forward. Some of them were standing behind Blaine, but the rest of them were all around Sam, grinning while they sang and dancing in place. Sam frowned and turned back to Blaine.

_Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs.  
And what's wrong with that?_

Blaine glanced over at Kurt for just a second, who grinned and motioned him forward. Blaine smiled and stepped closer to Sam, looking slightly more confident.

_I'd like to know.  
'Cause here I go again._

Sam couldn't help but glance around again, just to make sure that Jeremiah wasn't standing directly behind him or something like that. But no, there was nobody around him but the Warblers.

Blaine had to be singing to him.

_I love you_

Sam grinned. It was hard not to burst out laughing right then and there. Not because anything was funny, but just because he honestly couldn't believe it. This felt to awesome to be real.

Blaine saw the grin on Sam's face, and his whole face completely lit up. He looked happier than Sam could ever remember seeing him.

_I love you_

Blaine suddenly ran to the side and jumped on a display table, then spun around to face Sam again, gesturing dramatically as he sang.

_Love doesn't come in a minute  
Sometimes it doesn't come at all  
I only know that when I'm in it  
It isn't silly  
No, it isn't silly  
Love isn't silly at all, not at all_

Blaine held out his hands, and Sam quickly grabbed them, letting Blaine help him step up onto the table next to him. Once he was up, Blaine didn't drop his hands. He kept holding on as he turned to face Sam completely, looking him straight in the eye.

_I love you  
I love you  
I can't explain  
The feelings plain to me  
Now can't you see_

Sam could see out of the corner of his eye that the Warblers were all dancing around the table. They probably had some good moves, and it was a shame to ignore them, but Sam really couldn't look away from Blaine right then.

_Ah, she gives me more  
She gave it all to me  
Now can't you see_

The Warblers sang a few more notes of background music, then the song came to an end. It wasn't until he heard the applause that Sam realized that all of the other shoppers had gathered around to watch them. Sam glanced at them, suddenly feeling self-conscious, but he was too happy to care that everyone in the Gap was staring at them. Blaine grinned and took one of his hands out of Sam's long enough to wave at the crowd, then turned back to Sam, suddenly looking more nervous. "So, Sam," he said, and took a deep breath. "I was wondering if-"

Sam grabbed him and yanked him forward into a hug before he even got a chance to finish his sentence. "Whatever you were going to ask, my answer is yes," he said quietly, his words slightly muffled by Blaine's shoulder.

Blaine's arms tightened around him. "Really?"

"Yeah," Sam said, only vaguely aware that the applause all around them had grown louder. "This was amazing, Blaine."

"I'm glad you liked it." Blaine pulled back, and Sam let him go, even though he was kind of tempted to keep hugging Blaine forever. He glanced around. "We should probably get out of here. Go someplace more private."

"Good idea." Sam jumped down from the table, then helped Blaine down after him, mostly because it gave him an excuse to hold Blaine's hand again. Not that he needed one.

It wasn't until he, Blaine, Kurt, and the rest of the Warblers were walking out of the store that something occurred to him. "I thought you were going to sing to Jeremiah," he said. "The whole point was that I was going there to stop you. Why'd you sing to me instead?"

"That would be my doing," Kurt said, linking his arm through Sam's free arm and grinning. "Really, there's no need to thank me."

"I wanted to sing to Jeremiah because I knew he was gay and, well, I didn't think that there was any way that you might like me back," Blaine said with a sheepish smile. "Kurt convinced me that I should at least try... even if I was pretty sure that you were going to turn me down."

"Dude, there's no way I'd ever turn you down," Sam said. "Do you realize how badly I've wanted to ask you out since the day we meant?"

"Really?" Blaine asked, looking both surprised and pleased. "That long?" Sam nodded.

"I also called the Gap to see if it was okay for us to perform there," Kurt added. "They said it was fine, though they did make us change the song. Blaine's first choice wasn't exactly family-friendly."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?" he asked. He had a hard time picturing Blaine singing something even remotely inappropriate. "Which song?"

"Don't ask," Blaine mumbled, shaking his head. "In my defense, I didn't know what all of those lines meant."

"Trust me, Sebastian was way too willing to explain it to him," Kurt said with a smirk. Blaine flushed bright red and looked away.

Sam frowned at the mention of Sebastian. Based on what Kurt and Blaine said, Sebastian hadn't caused as much trouble lately, and had definitely given up on Blaine. Neither of them seemed to mind him anymore, but Sam still held a grudge for the way Sebastian had treated Blaine when they went on that date. He scowled, then shook his head and made himself relax. Blaine had just said that he loved him – or, Blaine had sang it, actually, which was even better. This was the best day in Sam's life, and even Sebastian couldn't ruin this for him.

"We have almost three hours until we're all supposed to meet at Breadstix," Blaine said, checking his watch. "Do you want to hang out for a while before then?"

Sam grinned. "Do you even have to ask?"

They went to the Lima Bean. It just seemed appropriate, considering how many important things had happened there. Erin grinned when she saw the two of them enter together. Blaine insisted on buying Sam's drink, and a minute later they settled down in one of the booths.

"What do you think you're friends are going to say when they find out that we're dating?" Blaine asked.

Sam honestly hadn't thought about it, but he just shrugged. "They'll be fine," he said. He brightened as an idea occurred to him. "I was going to sing a song tonight. I can dedicate it to you!"

"Really?" Blaine asked, looking absolutely thrilled. Sam nodded. Truthfully, he would have dedicated it to Blaine even if they weren't together, but now he'd be able to actually tell people that that was who this song was for.

Blaine smiled. "I wish I'd just asked you out sooner," he said.

Sam chuckled. "I wish I'd thought to tell you that I'm not straight," he said, then thought about it for a minute. "Though really, even though it would have been awesome to have been able to start dating you sooner, I'm glad it happened this way."

"Yeah?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah," Sam said, reaching across the table to take Blaine's hand again. "This was pretty much perfect."


End file.
